1 Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a water distributing device used to flush chemical additives from a chemical additive dispenser in a washing machine, and more particularly relates to a water flow distributing device enabling hot or cold water to be selectively used to flush different chemical additives.
2 State of the Prior Art
Washing machines are currently designed to normally execute a number of working programs for handling clothes. Clothes are time loaded into the drum of the washer, with the working programs then being executed to carry out the normal handling and washing functions. The various programs of the washing machine differ from each other in both the type of handling which the clothes in the washing machine undergo (washing, rinsing, spin-drying, etc.) and the manner in which they execute or actually perform their programs. That is, a washing program may be performed with varying parameters, such as temperature, time, final spin, addition of a pre-wash, etc.
Generally, each program includes a sequence of successive wash cycles. Each cycle may include a water addition step, which step may also include the introduction of a corresponding chemical additive into the water of the washing machine to assist in carrying out the particular clothes handling operation.
As is well known, such chemical additives can either be in liquid or powder form. These additives can be added to the wash cycle by providing a single drawer-like extractable dispenser having a number of separate compartments. The various chemical additives can then be placed in the various separate compartments of the dispenser. When the drawer-like dispenser is pushed into its closed position on the washer, the various separate compartments of the dispenser are slid forward to place them underneath a specially provided water flushing system. Such a system provides water flowing to the separate compartments either by gravity or under pressure, or a combination of both gravity and pressure. Water flows into the respective compartments of the dispenser, where the water mixes with the chemical additive contained therein and flushes the additive away towards the tub of the washing machine to be used in the wash cycle.
Because the chemical additive dispenser contains all of the chemical additives used in the various wash cycles at various times, the water flushing system will be activated at different times for the different compartments of the dispenser in order to supply each chemical additives at the appropriate point in time. Accordingly, the flushing system must be capable of flushing the compartments of the dispenser individually and independently of the other compartments, in accordance with the sequence of the wash cycles of the washing program. Thus the flushing system must have some mechanism for properly diverting water sequentially to the correct compartment of the dispenser at the appropriate time.
In the current state of the art, a number of basic flushing systems are available, used to direct a flow of incoming water toward the respective compartments of a chemical additive dispenser. Three basic available flushing systems are briefly described below for purposes of understanding the background of the present invention.
Italian patent No. 763597 discloses a simple and direct system for flushing a chemical additive from a dispenser. The system provides a flexible spray nozzle located above compartments of the chemical additive dispenser, water being supplied to the flexible spray nozzle from a conduit connected to the main water supply or to a water inlet solenoid valve. A mechanical actuation system, connected with a timer or sequence control switch, moves the flexible spray nozzle above the compartments of the dispenser to position the nozzle above the correct compartment for flushing the desired chemical additive. The movement of the spray nozzle could be either in a rotary or translational form.
French patent No. 1,601,628 discloses a second example of a flushing system. This system uses a plurality of solenoid valves disposed downstream of a main water entry in the supply piping of the washing machine. The solenoid valves are actuated to separate the incoming water flow into several secondary flows. The secondary flows are directed through corresponding secondary conduits directed toward the respective compartments of a chemical additive dispenser.
A third type of flushing system disclosed in Italian patent No. 863831 and German patent No. 1129920 and No. 1247257 is quite probably the most common type of system. In this system, the main flow of incoming water is conducted to the respective spray nozzles or the like by a single conduit from the main water supply. The main flow of water is separated into several secondary water flows by a mechanically actuated water distributing device, each secondary water flow being directed toward a respective nozzle and a corresponding compartment of a chemical additive dispenser. This device is essentially a rotatable or translatable hollow casing, receiving at one end thereof a main water supply inflow and distributing at the other end thereof outflowing water to the respective spray nozzles. The separation and distribution of the water flow in the device is a result of the rotation or translation of the device to direct the outflow of water in different directions or at different angles toward the respective outlets and water spray nozzles.
Each of the three above-described flushing systems adequately perform their functions under normal circumstances. However, the above systems share a common drawback, namely that none of these systems can independently admit both hot and cold water to be used to flush the compartments of the chemical additive dispenser. Indeed, when a washing a machine has to take in both hot and cold water in the same cycle, due to the particular needs or requirements of the wash cycle, all of the above described flushing systems become unsuitable.
The first system described above would only be able to admit hot water independently at the expense of unacceptable increases in the complexity of the construction of the water inlet system and a corresponding high increase in manufacturing costs.
Similarly, the second system described above would only allow for such a feature if the water inlet system was essentially duplicated, with twice the number of water inlet solenoid valves and, therefore, with a considerable and corresponding increase in manufacturing complexity and cost.
With regard to the third system described above, there are three different design options available intended to implement a hot and cold water fill feature, allowing both hot and cold water into the machine. One of these design options uses a special three-way solenoid valve, two settings of which are used to let in the hot and cold water, and a third position of which is used as a delivery port whereat the incoming water flows join together. However, this type of solution, which is widely used in the United States, cannot be used in Europe because of specific considerations in connection with existing regulations. If the solenoid valve should fail, the main water supply could be easily contaminated by water flowing back from the machine because of the absence of an air-break or other similar feature.
A second design option sends the hot water directly into the tub of the washing machine through a special water inlet circuit. The hot water would therefore not flow through the compartments of the chemical additive dispenser to flush the chemical additives. This design option is unsatisfactory because, to have the chemical additive or additives flushed from the compartments of the dispenser to the tub, it will always be necessary to admit cold water to flush the chemical additives. This will consequently reduce the economic advantages and the time saving derived from the machine also being connected to a hot water supply. It also makes it practically impossible to operate the washing machine when the washing machine is only connected to a hot water supply.
A third design option used with the third type of flushing system discussed above uses two similar independent conduits, one for hot water and one for cold water. Both conduits lead to the same water distributing device through air-break devices placed between the conduits and the water distributing device. The water distributing device should, as a result, have very large water inlet openings to admit water from different directions, taking into consideration that the device will move rotatably or translationally to supply the various delivery channels leading to the compartments of the chemical additive dispenser. This arrangement of the device presents several serious disadvantages:
(1) The angle between the inlet and outlet directions of the water flow into and out of the water distributing device may become too sharp at certain rotational positions of the device, thus inducing considerable pressure losses. This hinders a regular inflow and outflow of the water through the water distributing device.
(2) Both the hot water and the cold water flow into a hollow cavity of the water distributing device, combining therein. Since the hot water flow usually has a lower pressure than that of the cold water flow, the hot water flow will be opposed by the cold water flow, the cold water acting almost as an obstacle to the hot water because of the difference in velocity and pressure of the two water flows. Accordingly, the hot water flow will tend to be repelled by the cold water flow, thus preventing a regular water inflow and outflow through the water distributing device. In practice, only a relatively small amount of inflowing hot water is able to flow through the distributor and exit toward the chemical additive dispenser.
In conclusion, none of the above described systems for flushing chemical additives from the compartments of a dispenser provide a system which has an independent, reliable and economical hot and cold water supply.
Accordingly, the object of the present invention is to provide a simple, economical, reliable and effective water distributing device overcoming the above-mentioned disadvantages of the prior art arrangements and providing both hot and cold water to be either independently or simultaneously led into the various compartments of a chemical additive dispenser.